Machine for making lacing-hooks, &amp;c.



No. 746,901. PATENTED DEC. 15, 1903.

G. TUCKERfi: J F. JONES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING LAGING HOOKS, m,

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1902. N0 MODEL. 1 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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AP-PIIIIOATION HLEB'MAY 2a, 1902.

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PATENTED DEG. 15,1903.

G. TUCKER & J. P.. JONES. MACHINE FOR MAKING LAOING HOOKS, 6w. APPLIOA'KION FILED my 26. 1902.

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No. 746,901. i I v PatentedIDecember 15, 1903.

UN TEo STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE TUCKER, OF BIRMINGHAM, AND JOSEPH FREDERICK JONES, OF ASTON, NEAR BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR MAKING LAClNG-HOOKS, 800.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,901, dated December 15, 1903.

I Application filed May 26, 1902. Serial No. 109,045. (No model.)

To and, whom it vim/y concern: through and the completely-finished articles Be it known that we, GEORGE TUCKER, aredelivered one at a time at the other end. manufacturer,of Jameson road,Nechells, Bir- We propose to describe the application of mingham, and JOSEPH FREDERICK JONES, our invention to the manufacture of a lacingtool-maker,of 169 Church Lane, Aston, near hook or hooked eyelet for'boots, this article Birmingham, England, both subjects of the comprising an eyelet Withahook-shaped head King of Great Britain, have invented a cerhaving a domed top and connected to the edge tain new and useful Machine for Making Lacof the eyelet by a crinkled web. ing-Hooks and Like Small Articles, of which A machine adapted for the production of 1c the following is aspecification. a lacinghook in accordance with our im- This invention has relation in the first part proved process or method is represented in to the manufacture or production of metalthe accompanying drawings, in which lie eyelet hooks 0r lacing hooks and boot- Figure l is a front elevation, one only of fasteners and is also applicable to the prothe dies being shown in transverse vertical [5 duction of other analogous small metallic section. Fig.2 is another view of the comarticles from sheet metal, and in the second plete machine, partly in elevation and partly part to the machinery and tools to be emin vertical section, to show the arrangement ployed in the production of snchlacing-hooks of the series of bottom. dies, the method of and the like in accordance with the process mounting and working the corresponding se- 20 which constitutes the first partof the saidinries of top tools or punches in the recipro- 7o vention. eating tool-slide, and the construction of the v The principal object of the invention is to feed-motion for passing the strip of metal reduce thecost of manufacture or production progressively between the top and bottom of the said articles, and this it 'is proposed to tools. Fig. 3 is a view showing the side of 25 accomplish by performing the whole of the the machine at which the feed-motion is ardifierent stages or processes or the full seranged. Fig. 4 represents a vertical'section qunce of operations necessary for the proof the machine upon the dotted line 03, Fig. 2, duction of a given article simultaneously by showing the cross-slide, in which the last die a complete set of tools worked ina single of the bottom series is formed, in its rear- 0 machine and corresponding in number to the ward or withdrawn position. Fig. 5is asiminumber of operations involved, so that once lar sectional view to that represented in Fig. the machine has been fully started a com- 4,- but. shows the die-slide in its forward or pletely-finished articleisproduced with every advanced position. Figs. 6 and 7, respecstroke of the tool-slide. Thus at each stroke tively, represent in longitudinal section and 35 of the machine the several stages of produoin plan a portion of the strip, showing how tion are performed all at the same time or, the different parts as they pass through simultaneously, but upon different succesthe machine are progressively fashioned or sive parts of a strip of metal which is fed worked up by the succession of stages or procinto and through the machine lengthwise esses involved in the production of the eye- 0 and progressively or by intermittent steps, let, commencing with the initial cupping of and, assuming that an article requires to be the flat metal and ending with the cutting operated upon by seven different tools or subout of the pierced eyelet and head. Fig. 8 is mitted to seven different processes 'to coman edge view of the cut-out eyelet and head, plete its manufacture from the strip to the which in order to complete the formation 4.5 finished form, this numherof toolsis arranged into the finished hook has to be bent up 5 in the one machine so as to operate simultransversely across the web which connected taneously upon the different successive porthe eyelet part with the domed head. The tions of the said strip, whereby the fiat metal finished article is shown in elevation and plan fed in at one end of the machine is progressview in Fig. 9..

5o ively fashioned or worked up as it passes The same letters of reference indicate cor- [00 reciprocating tool-slidej of the machine, so

responding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The bed aof this machine is provided with a series of five fixed bottom dies or die-matrices b c d ef, set with their vertical centers at exactly equal distances apart and having their respective sinkings b c d ef shaped to correspond in form and depth with the shapes that have to be imparted in succession to each portion of the fed-in strip 2' in the course of the preliminary cupping and piercing processes involved in the production of a lacing-hook of the desired pattern. Thus the dies b, c, d, and e are designed to respectively impart to the strip the cuppings indicated at t t i t in Figs. 6 and 7, while the die f is for piercing or knocking out the bottom of the cup, as shown at 1' and beyond the piercing-die is arranged an open-bottomed or cutting-out die g, which cuts out the shaped eyelet with its integral web and hook-head at 71 it being understood that the several diematrices are spaced out or set at distances apart which will leave sufficient fiat metal between the clippings to provide for the formation of the domed head by the tool provided for the purpose, as hereinafter described. Also located in the bed of the machine and adapted to work to and fro underneath the open-bottomed die 9 is a cross-slide h, fitted.

with a bending-die h, in which the final stage of bending up the cut-out article into the finished form is accomplished. Arranged in conjunction with this set of bottom dies is a corresponding set of top tools or punches b 0 d e ,f and g adjustably mounted within the that the whole of the said tools descend and make their working or operative stroke at the same time. The noses or acting ends b 0 d e f and g of these punches are formed to correspond with the matrices of the lower dies,with which they are respectively adapted to cooperate. Thus the punches b 0 (1 and e are cupping-tools, and the punch f is a piercing-tool adapted to knock out the bottom of the cup at the fifth stage of the process, while the punch g is acombination shaping and cutting-out tool and is adapted to both shape the portion of the metal i immediately in front of the eyelet into the domed head of the hook and also to cut out this combined head and eyelet from the strip and force it through the open-bottomed die g, this being the last stage of the process so far as these six tools are concerned, as the final stageviz., the bending up of the hook so that its concavity faces the open end of the eyelet-is performed bya supplementary and separately-operated punch or tool is, acting in conjunction with the bending-die h of the cross-slide h.

The whole or" the matrices of the lower dies 1), c, d, and e have open bottoms, coinciding with vertical holes or wells 6 c d 6 made in the bed of the machine and containing springoperated ejector-stalks b c d 6 which are forced downward, and their springs are compressed or made active when the reciprocating punches of the tool-slide descend in making the workingstroke; but when thesaid punches return or ascend the ejector-springs react upon their stalks, and the upper ends being projected simultaneously through the open bottoms of the die-matrices strike against the bottoms of the cupped parts of the strip lying therein and bodily lift the portion of the said strip which is at the time being subjected to the action 'of the tools to such an extent that the said cupped parts are cleared of the dies and the strip is free to be fed forward a further step--viz., to an extent equal to the distance between the vertical center of any one die and the vertical center of the next die of the series-it being understood that the feedmotion (which is hereinafter described) is so adjusted that after each stroke of the toolslide it will deliver or pass into the machine a furtherlength of the continuous strip corresponding to the quantity of metal required for the production of a single complete article. To arrest the strip in its upward motion after it has been raised clear of the die-matrices, a guard or stop plate '11. is fixed at the proper distance above thedie-hed, this plate being provided with a series of holes within which the reciprocating punches work.

The combined shaping and cutting-out tool 9 is fitted with a spring-ejector 9 the stalk g of which is adapted to project through a hole 9 in the acting end of the tool as the latter ascends after making its cutting stroke and deliver the domed and eyeleted blank into the bending-die h of the cross-slide, which is then made to advance so as to present the said blank to the action of the tool k, which is carried in a separate vertical slide is, reciprocating in guides k at the front of the machine.

The sliding die It has a clearance 71, in the middle and ledges h h on the opposite sides of the said clearance for supporting the fashioned blank while it is being advanced from underneath the open-bottomed die g, as shown in Fig. 4, to a point below the bending-tool, as shown in Fig. 5, and then when the bending-tool descends it strikes the middle part of the blank, which is forced-into the said middle clearance and bent up staplewise, with the hollow of the domed head presented to and standing at a short distance from the mouth of the eyelet. The cross-slide is then retired back to its original position, ready to receive the next cut-out article.

At the bottom of the lower bending-tool there may be formed a rise or projection 7L which forms a strengthening or stifiening corrugation or cross-crinkle 0 along the web 0 which connects the domed head 0 to the edge of the eyelet 0.

An arrangement of tools such as hereinbefore described may be operated by any suitable mechanism; but in the particular form of machine shown in the drawings the whole of the working parts derive their motion from a main driving-shaft 102, working in bearings m in the frame m and provided with an eccentric m encircled by a strap m which is connected at m to the main tool-slidej by a pin m To the side of this eccentric are a pair of camsp q, of which the former is adapted to give the forward traverse to the crossslide h, containing the bending-die 77., while the latter operates the supplementary slide k',carrying the reciprocating bending-p11 nch it. Thus thecam 10, which has a long rest at p for retaining the cross-slide stationary at the forward end of its stroke for an appre ciable period during which bending up of the fashioned blank is performed,.acts upon the one arm 20 of a rocking lever p fulcrumed to the frame at p and having its lower termination bearing against the back end 71. of the cross-slide, which is kept close up to the said lever by a spring f, arranged between the slide and a fixed part of the machine and whose function also is to draw back or give the rearward stroke to the slide when the rest part 19 of the cam has been taken by the rotation of the main shaft beyond or out of contact with the arm p of the lever. The second cam g has a peripheral projection g, which is timed to act upon the slide 76 after the cross-slide has been advanced and during the period that the rest of the cam 10 is moving past the arm 19 of the lever p and then after the said slide has been thus constrained to make its working stroke for bending up the fashioned blank the return movement is effected by the con traction of a spring g disposed between the slide' and a hook g or other connection fixed to the frame.

The feedmotion for advancing the strip into the machine intermittently andfor moving on each of the parts that are being fashionedby the tools to the extent of a further step or stage when the tool-slide ascends af-,

ter the'tools carried by it have completed their simultaneous working stroke is actuated by athird cam 0, formed at the end of the main shaft and acting upon a swinginglever r, fulcrumed at r to the frame. When this lever is rocked in the one direction, the strip is advanced or fed in to the predetermined extent through the medium of a gripper device r mounted upon a horizontally-recip rocating slide or bed plate r and carrying a pivoted jaw '1 which is kept closed to grip the metal by the spring 1' during the feed movement; but when the lever rocks in the reverse direction the gripper-slide is drawn back by the contraction of the previouslydistended springs r and the jaw is momentarily opened, so as to relieve the grip upon the strip by the action of a projection or nosecam r disposed adjacent tothe cam r and acting upon a slide 9', whose foot end T when depressed impinges against the tail end 9" of the gripper-jaw and causes the latter to open.

The slide a"? is taken back to its normal position by the action of the spring 0 which also closes the jaw as soon as the slide r has been drawn back to the limit of its motion by its springs W, and as soon as the said jaw is thus closed onto the strip the mechanism is ready to make the next forward or feed movement. By this arrangement a length of strip equaling the distance between the dies is fed into chine is presented or submitted in its proper turn to the action of each set of tools, the whole of which (with the exception of the bendingtools which come into operation while the other tools are ascending) act simultaneously,

but upon different parts of the strip, which forms, as it were, a carrier or conveyer for intermittently transferring the shaped portions of the metal onward from die to die after each working stroke of the tool-slide.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the whole of the parts of the machine are so arranged and timed in their actions that a fashioned hook is finished, bent, and delivered with every complete revolution of the main cam-shaft, and it will be readily understood that by this continuous process or method of producing boot-hooks and the improved machinery used in connection therewith very considerable saving of time and labor is efiected, with a corresponding reduction in the cost of manufacture, inasmuch as the blanks do not require to be removed from one machine and transferred to another after each stage or successive operation has been performed; but the strip is carried or fed along for advancing each .part to the next successive tool du ring the upstroke of the tool-slide and then brought to rest prior to the said tools making the descending or working stroke.

The application of our invention to the manufacture of analogous small articles capable of being produced by a succession of stamping and cutting out processes from sheet metal diders in no essential respect from its application to the manufacture of lacing hooks, as herein described. For instance, in making eyelets and simple articles which require no bending up of a cut-outand fashioned blank to complete the formation the bending-tools and the cross-slide and the mechanism for actuating these parts would be omitted, while in machines for wholly or partially producing such articles as thimbles,

ferrules," percussion-cap shells, and small cartridge-cases by the continuous process cupping and clipping or cutting-out tools &

only would be required, the tools for piercing the bottom being omitted. In all cases the form, arrangement, and number of the tools would be varied according to the form of the article to be produced and the number and nature of the processes involved in its production.

Having fully described our inveution,what we desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In a machine of the character specified, a shaft, a series of tools operated by said shaft, a gripper device consisting of a slid.- ing bed-plate and a gripping-jaw, means for operating said gripper device, a sliding die adapted to cooperate with the last tool of said series, and means for operating said sliding die directly from said shaft.

2. In a machine of the character specified, a shaft, a series, of tools operated by said shaft, a gripper device consisting of a slid- GEORGE TUCKER. JOSEPH FREDERICK JONES.

Witnesses:

HENRY SKERRETT, ARTHUR T. SADLER. 

